General Notes

The term "British Isles" is a geographic one describing the two
large islands of Great Britain (which contains England, Scotland
and Wales) and Ireland, together with numerous smaller islands
around their coasts. The major administrative divisions are
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of
Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

The term "United Kingdom" is a contraction of "United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland", that is England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland, but has meant different things at
different times. From 1707, when the parliaments of England and
Scotland were united, we had the "United Kingdom of Great Britain".
Then, in 1801, when Ireland joined the union, it was the "United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". Finally, in 1922, when 26 of
the 32 counties of Ireland left the union to form the Irish Free
State (the forerunner of the Republic of Ireland), the present name
was adopted.

The adjective "British" is generally taken to mean "of the
United Kingdom" rather than "of Great Britain" or "of the British
Isles", but "Irish" can mean either "of Ireland" or "of the
Republic of Ireland" depending on the context.

In England, Wales and Scotland, the word "County" is not
part of a county's name, so it is incorrect to refer to, for
example, "County Devon" or "Devon County". There is a single
exception to this rule - County Durham, where this form is used to
distinguish the county from Durham City. In Ireland (both Northern
Ireland and the Republic), however, the opposite is true; county
names are usually prefixed with the word "County", for example
County Down and County Clare.

The suffix "shire" appears on many county names in England,
Scotland and Wales. The general rule is the "shire" is used only
where there is a town or city with the same name as the county -
hence "Nottinghamshire" to distinguish the county from the city of
Nottingham. There are some cases, however, where the suffix "shire"
is regarded as optional, for example Devon / Devonshire and Nairn /
Nairnshire.

Specific notes relating to individual areas can be found on the
relevant pages.

The documents linked from the head of this page list the
administrative sub-divisions of the various parts of the British
Isles and attempt to clarify the far reaching local government
changes made (or about to be made) within the United Kingdom since
1965.

Note: The Association of British Counties provide a
number of helpful pages, including one on The problem of
"county confusion" - and how to resolve it which explains the
differnces betwee historoc counties, counties as designated under
the 1972 Local Governemnt Act, and those under the 1997
Lieutenancies Act.